System and method for communicating medical data

ABSTRACT

Methods and systems to selectively output access-protected information associated with a code based on biometric data of person from who the code is obtained. An embodiment includes outputting first information upon capture of the code and outputting second information if biometric data obtained from the person matches biometric data associated with the code. The first information may be extracted from the code and the second information may be retrieved from a remote storage device. The biometric data associated with the code may be extracted from the code or retrieved from the remote storage device. The first information may include personal identification information. The second information may include, without limitation, access-protected information, personal medical information, an indication that the person is a member of an at-risk group, or an indication that the person is suspected of involvement in illicit activity. Outputting the first information may be omitted.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation in part of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 17/434,028, filed Aug. 26, 2021 which is a § 371 ofInternational Application No. PCT/US2020/036256, filed Jun. 5, 2020,entitled “SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR COMMUNICATING MEDICAL DATA,” which is acontinuation in part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/714,356,filed Dec. 13, 2019, entitled “SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR COMMUNICATINGMEDICAL DATA,” which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional ApplicationSer. No. 62/857,937, filed Jun. 6, 2019, entitled “SYSTEM AND METHOD FORCOMMUNICATING MEDICAL DATA” all of which are incorporated herein byreference in their entirety.

BACKGROUND Field

Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to a system andmethod to communicate medical data and particularly to a system andmethod for communicating medical data by using medical identifiers.

Description of Related Art

Generally, medical IDs are used to help medical personnel to identify apatient and to obtain the patient's vital medical data quickly andefficiently. The medical personnel can access the medical data of thepatient by using the medical IDs within a few seconds. However, theremay be some cases in which a user may carry another user's medical ID bymistake or purposefully in order to carry out such as, illegaloperations. In another case, a user is travelling to another countrywith a fake ID. In order to identify a user with a positive or trueidentity is one of a major task to achieve. However, with the currentlyavailable method and systems, a positive identity of a user is notachieved. Furthermore, these medical IDs provide very limited amount ofmedical data to the medical personnel during emergency conditions or ingeneral pursue different goals and not intended for these purposes atall. For example, a patient may be allergic to certain medications, orcertain medications can interfere in the treatment, which might lead tohard complications and may cause even deaths.

Conventionally, a number of systems and devices have been designed tocommunicate medical data of a patient to medical personnel duringemergency conditions like natural disasters, calamity, emergencypreparedness, evacuations and other similar situations. The conventionalsystems use medical data in a printed form. For example, a user fillsfew details of personal and medical data on a sticker and a paper formprovided by, such as, a police department. The sticker is then affixedon a windshield of a vehicle and the paper form is stored in a glovebox, or the sticker is affixed on a refrigerator at home and the paperform is stored in a nearby drawer. In case of an emergency situationlike natural disasters, calamity, emergency preparedness, evacuationsand other similar situations, police personnel can obtain the personaland medical data of the user from the sticker and the paper forms.However, such printed data is not secured and can be accessed by anyunauthorized person. And often, it is absolutely outdated. Otherconventional systems require a hardware device to be carried by medicalpersonnel to fetch the medical data of the patient. However, theseconventional devices are complicated or cannot easily identify themedical data associated with the patient during emergency conditions andare also time-consuming. In addition, these conventional systems requirea communication network connection in order to access the medical dataassociated with the patient, such that the medical data is maintained bya certified Electronic Health Record (EHR) system. In case, thecommunication network connection is not available, then there is nomeans to access the medical data, which may lead to a delay in providinga medical treatment to the patient. Also, the medical personnel arerequired to use a password/Personal Identification Number (PIN) from thepatient to access the medical data in an online mode. This furtherrestricts the medical personnel to access the medical data, in case thepatient is unable to communicate, or the patient being unconscious,incoherent along with the unavailability of a communication network.Further, these conventional EHR's systems do not generate medicalidentifiers in order to communicate the medical data to either anemergency first responder or a medical personnel. In addition, theconventional EHR systems do not allow anyone other than the EHR user,such as a patient or a medical personnel, to change and/or update themedical data about the patient especially in case, the medical data isalready printed.

There is thus a need for a system and method for communicating medicaldata to medical personnel during emergency conditions in a moreefficient and timely manner.

Also, there is a need for a system and method to communicate medicaldata of a patient that belongs to an organization such as, United StatesArmy, Police forces, and fire fighters, and so forth to the medicalpersonnel who might save their lives in emergency conditions.

SUMMARY

Embodiments in accordance with the present invention provide a systemfor validating at least one individual. The system comprising a datacollection module configured to collect data, wherein the data comprisesidentification data and medical data associated with the at least oneindividual, wherein the identification data comprises at least biometricdata, and the medical data comprises a Personal Identifiable Information(PII) data, a Protected Health Information (PHI) data, or a combinationthereof. The system further comprising a data transformation moduleconfigured to encrypt the collected data of the at least one individual.The system further comprising at least one Electronic Health Record(EHR) database configured to store the encrypted data of the at leastone individual. The system further comprising an identifier generationmodule configured to generate at least one identification code based onthe stored encrypted data of the at least one individual, wherein the atleast one generated identification code is used for identification ofthe at least one individual in an offline mode. The system furthercomprising a scanning module configured to enable at least one personnelto scan the generated at least one identification code of the at leastone individual, and a real-time at least one biometric of the at leastone individual. The system further comprising a validation moduleconfigured to enable the at least one personnel to validate an identityof the at least one individual, wherein the identity of the at least oneindividual is validated when the at least one scanned real-timebiometric of the at least one individual matches with the at least oneidentification data stored in the at least one of the scannedidentification code. The system further comprising a data access moduleconfigured to enable the at least one personnel to access the medicaldata of the at least one individual based on a level of authorizationfor the at least one personnel defined by the at least one individualwhen the identity of the individual is valid. The system furthercomprising a user interface module configured to display the accessedmedical data on a user device associated with the at least onepersonnel.

Embodiments in accordance with the present invention further provide acomputer-implemented method for validating an identification data of atleast one individual by at least one personnel. The method comprisingcollecting data, wherein the data comprises identification data andmedical data associated with the at least one individual, wherein theidentification data comprises at least biometric data, and the medicaldata comprises a Personal Identifiable Information (PII) data, aProtected Health Information (PHI) data, or a combination thereof;encrypting the collected data of the at least one individual; storingthe encrypted data of the at least one individual in at least oneElectronic Health Record (EHR) database; generating at least oneidentification code based on the stored encrypted data of the at leastone individual, wherein the at least one generated identification codeis used for identification of the at least one user in an offline mode;printing the at least one generated identification code on at least onearticle; enabling at least one personnel to scan the printed at leastone identification code of the at least one individual, and a real-timeat least one biometric of the at least one individual; enabling the atleast one personnel to validate an identity of the at least oneindividual, wherein the identity of the at least one individual isvalidated when the at least one scanned real-time biometric of the atleast one user matches with the at least one identification data storedin the at least one of the scanned identification code; enabling the atleast one personnel to access to the medical data of the at least oneindividual based on a level of authorization for the at least onepersonnel defined by the at least one individual when the identity ofthe individual is valid; and displaying the accessed medical data on auser device associated with the at least one personnel.

Embodiments in accordance with the present invention provide a systemfor validating at least one individual. The system comprising a datacollection module configured to collect data, wherein the data comprisesidentification data and medical data associated with the at least oneindividual, wherein the identification data comprises at least biometricdata, and the medical data comprises a Personal Identifiable Information(PII) data, a Protected Health Information (PHI) data, or a combinationthereof. The system further comprising a data transformation moduleconfigured to encrypt the collected data of the at least one individual.The system further comprising at least one Electronic Health Record(EHR) database configured to store the encrypted data of the at leastone individual. The system further comprising an identifier generationmodule configured to generate at least one identification code based onthe stored encrypted data of the at least one individual, wherein the atleast one generated identification code is used for identification ofthe at least one individual in an offline mode. The system furthercomprising a print module configured to print the at least one generatedidentification code on at least one article. The system furthercomprising a scanning module configured to enable at least one personnelto scan the generated at least one printed identification code of the atleast one individual, and a real-time at least one biometric of the atleast one individual. The system further comprising a validation moduleconfigured to enable the at least one personnel to validate an identityof the at least one individual, wherein the identity of the at least oneindividual is validated when the at least one scanned real-timebiometric of the at least one individual matches with the at least oneidentification data stored in the at least one of the scannedidentification code. The system further comprising a data access moduleconfigured to enable the at least one personnel to access the medicaldata of the at least one individual based on a level of authorizationfor the at least one personnel defined by the at least one individualwhen the identity of the individual is valid. The system furthercomprising a user interface module configured to display the accessedmedical data on a user device associated with the at least onepersonnel.

Embodiments in accordance with the present invention provide a healthcare system for communicating medical data of a patient to at least oneuser. The health care system disclosed can be used by any governmentagencies like Police, Firefighters, Army, etc. The system includes adata collection module configured to collect medical data associatedwith the patient, wherein the medical data comprises biometric data,Personal Identifiable Information (PII) data, a Protected HealthInformation (PHI) data, or a combination thereof. The system furtherincludes a data transformation module configured to encrypt the medicaldata of the patient. The system further includes at least one ElectronicHealth Record (EHR) database configured to store the encrypted medicaldata of the patient. The system further includes an identifiergeneration module configured to generate at least one first medicalidentifier and at least one second medical identifier, wherein the atleast one first medical identifier is used to access a first set of themedical data in an offline mode and the at least one second medicalidentifier is used to access a second set of the medical data in anonline mode, wherein the first set of the medical data is categorizedinto an unprotected PII data and a protected PII data, and the secondset of the medical data is categorized into a basic PHI data and anextended PHI data, wherein the unprotected PII data is accessible by theat least one user in an online mode and/or an offline mode, wherein theprotected PII data, the basic PHI data, and the extended PHI data areaccessible by the at least one user in the online mode only, wherein theextended PHI data is accessible within a medical facility only. Thesystem further includes a data access module configured to authorize theat least one user for providing access to the medical data based on alevel of authorization defined by the patient. The system furtherincludes a user interface module configured to display the accessedmedical data on the user device.

Embodiments in accordance with the present invention further provide acomputer-implemented method for communicating medical data of a patientto at least one user. The method includes collecting medical dataassociated with the patient, wherein the medical data comprises aPersonal Identifiable Information (PII) data, a Protected HealthInformation (PHI) data, or a combination thereof; encrypting the medicaldata of the patient; storing the encrypted medical data of the patientin at least one Electronic Health Record (EHR) database; generating atleast one first medical identifier and at least one second medicalidentifier, wherein the at least one first medical identifier is used toaccess a first set of the medical data in an offline mode and the atleast one second medical identifier is used to access a second set ofthe medical data in an online mode, wherein the first set of the medicaldata is categorized into an unprotected PII data and a protected PIIdata, and the second set of the medical data is categorized into a basicPHI data and an extended PHI data, wherein the unprotected PII data isaccessible by the at least one user in an online mode and/or an offlinemode; wherein the protected PII data, the basic PHI data, and theextended PHI data are accessible by the at least one user in the onlinemode only; wherein the extended PHI data is accessible within a medicalfacility only; authorizing the at least one user on the basis of log-incredentials of the at least one user for providing access to the medicaldata based on a level of authorization defined by the patient;decrypting the accessed medical data; and displaying the decryptedmedical data on the user device.

Embodiments in accordance with the present invention provide a healthcare system for communicating medical data of a patient to at least oneuser. The system includes a data collection module configured to collectmedical data associated with the patient, wherein the medical datacomprises a Personal Identifiable Information (PII) data, a ProtectedHealth Information (PHI) data, or a combination thereof. The systemfurther includes a data transformation module configured to encrypt themedical data of the patient. The system further includes at least oneElectronic Health Record (EHR) database configured to store theencrypted medical data of the patient. The system further includes anidentifier generation module configured to generate at least one firstmedical identifier and at least one second medical identifier, whereinthe at least one first medical identifier is used to access a first setof the medical data in an offline mode and the at least one secondmedical identifier is used to access a second set of the medical data inan online mode; and embed the unprotected PII data and the secondmedical identifier in the first medical identifier, such that the secondmedical identifier is used to access the protected PII data, the basicPHI, the extended PHI data, or a combination thereof; wherein the firstset of the medical data is categorized into an unprotected PII data anda protected PII data, and the second set of the medical data iscategorized into a basic PHI data and an extended PHI data, wherein theunprotected PII data is accessible by the at least one user in an onlinemode and/or an offline mode, and the protected PII data, the basic PHIdata, and the extended PHI data are accessible by the at least one userin the online mode only, wherein the extended PHI data is accessiblewithin a medical facility only. The system further includes a dataaccess module configured to authorize the at least one user forproviding access to the medical data based on a level of authorizationdefined by the patient. The system further includes a user interfacemodule configured to display the accessed medical data on the userdevice.

Embodiments of the present invention may provide a number of advantagesdepending on its particular configuration. First, embodiments of thepresent application provide a system and a method for communicatingmedical data of a patient to a user such as a medical personnel duringemergency situations such as, but is not limited to, lost seniors withAlzheimer's, accidents, during evacuation, natural disasters, calamity,emergency preparedness, and other emergencies.

Next, embodiments of the present application provide a system and amethod that provides medical data to a medical personnel, in case of anavailable communication network, which may help the user to provide anappropriate and timely medical care to a patient without any delay, andto further prevent minor injuries converting into major ones.

Next, embodiments of the present application may reduce a number ofunnecessary tests and procedures of the patient by providing medicaldata to the user. In addition, embodiments of the present applicationmay identify and share the medical data between various medicalinstitutes, an access to a patient's record even when no communicationnetwork connection is available that too in a less amount of time,minimizes time to access medical data of the patient, etc. Also,embodiments of the present application may secure medical data of thepatient in an encrypted form, which cannot be accessed by anunauthorized user, and may be accessible through a proprietary medicalapplication with several additional levels of data protection. Inaddition, for emergency preparedness, the collection and communicationof the medical data of a patient to a user may be of prime importancefor providing medical treatment to patients in emergency conditions.

Embodiments of the present invention may provide a system and methodthat acts as an emergency preparedness tool for any disaster managementand emergency personnel of local medical facilities as well asState/Federal Disaster and Recovery Agencies during disaster situation,evacuation, natural calamity, earthquake, and other similar situations.

These and other advantages will be apparent from the present applicationof the embodiments described herein.

The preceding is a simplified summary to provide an understanding ofsome embodiments of the present invention. This summary is neither anextensive nor exhaustive overview of the present invention and itsvarious embodiments. The summary presents selected concepts of theembodiments of the present invention in a simplified form as anintroduction to the more detailed description presented below. As willbe appreciated, other embodiments of the present invention are possibleutilizing, alone or in combination, one or more of the features setforth above or described in detail below.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and still further features and advantages of embodiments ofthe present invention will become apparent upon consideration of thefollowing detailed description of embodiments thereof, especially whentaken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram depicting a health care system forcommunicating medical data of a patient to a user, according to anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram depicting medical data stored in differentcomponents of the health care system, according to an embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram depicting components of a health careplatform, according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4A illustrates a graphical user interface of a medical applicationon a user device and/or a medical personnel device, according to anexemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4B illustrates a graphical user interface of the medicalapplication wherein different scan options are presented, according toan exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4C illustrates a graphical user interface of the medicalapplication wherein the user scans a first medical identifier, accordingto an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4D illustrates a graphical user interface of the medicalapplication wherein a user logs-in by using log-in credentials,according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 4E, 4F and 4G illustrate a graphical user interface of the medicalapplication wherein the user accesses a set of the medical dataassociated with a patient, according to an exemplary embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 5A is a flowchart of a method for communicating medical data of apatient to a user, according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5B is a flowchart of a method for communicating data of anindividual to a personnel, according to an embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a method for communicating medical data of apatient to a user when the patient met with an accident, according toanother embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 7A and 7B are a flowchart of a method for registering a patientand collecting medical data for record to provide healthcare service tothe patient, according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of a method for creating medical records andgenerating a medical identifier for a patient, according to anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a flowchart of a method for collecting data of medicalpersonnel, according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 10 is a flowchart of a method for updating medical data of apatient, according to an embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 11 is a diagram of a computer system that can be used to implementan embodiment of the present invention.

The headings used herein are for organizational purposes only and arenot meant to be used to limit the scope of the description or theclaims. As used throughout this application, the word “may” is used in apermissive sense (i.e. , meaning having the potential to), rather thanthe mandatory sense (i.e., meaning must). Similarly, the words“include”, “including”, and “includes” mean including but not limitedto. To facilitate understanding, like reference numerals have been used,where possible, to designate like elements common to the figures.Optional portions of the figures may be illustrated using dashed ordotted lines, unless the context of usage indicates otherwise.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The phrases “at least one”, “one or more”, and “and/or” are open-endedexpressions that are both conjunctive and disjunctive in operation. Forexample, each of the expressions “at least one of A, B and C”, “at leastone of A, B, or C”, “one or more of A, B, and C”, “one or more of A, B,or C” and “A, B, and/or C” means A alone, B alone, C alone, A and Btogether, A and C together, B and C together, or A, B and C together.

The term “a” or “an” entity refers to one or more of that entity. Assuch, the terms “a” (or “an”), “one or more” and “at least one” can beused interchangeably herein. It is also to be noted that the terms“comprising”, “including”, and “having” can be used interchangeably.

The term “automatic” and variations thereof, as used herein, refers toany process or operation done without material human input when theprocess or operation is performed. However, a process or operation canbe automatic, even though performance of the process or operation usesmaterial or immaterial human input, if the input is received beforeperformance of the process or operation. Human input is deemed to bematerial if such input influences how the process or operation will beperformed. Human input that consents to the performance of the processor operation is not deemed to be “material”.

The terms “determine”, “calculate” and “compute,” and variationsthereof, as used herein, are used interchangeably and include any typeof methodology, process, mathematical operation or technique.

The term “individual” and variations thereof, as used herein is definedas a person whose identity is to be validated by an authorizedpersonnel.

The term “patient” and variations thereof, as used herein is defined asa person who is seeking medical treatment from a user. The patient mayhave a medical ID with an embedded medical identifier, and/or whoseidentification data for example, fingerprint, face ID, eye scan,Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA), and so forth are stored in an ElectronicHealth Record (EHR) database.

The term “patient representative” and variations thereof, as used hereinis defined as a responsible person who is in charge in case when apatient is minor, disabled, and so forth.

The term “firm” and variations thereof, as used herein is defined as anorganization who has signed a contract with the health care platform forproviding a medical identifier to a patient.

The term “user” and variations thereof, as used herein is defined as aperson using a proprietary medical application to access medical data(such as, PII data and PHI data) of a patient, which is stored in theEHR database. The user's credentials and a level of authorizationdefined by the patient may be used to determine what medical data can beaccessed by the user. The user may be a, but is not limited to, anemergency first responder, or an authorized medical personnel. The usermay also any authorized personnel such as a law enforcement officer,security officer, etc. working in departments other than healthcare.

The term “First Responder” (FR) and variations thereof, as used hereinis defined as a user who is trained to respond or provide basic medicaltreatment to a patient in case of an emergency situation. Generally, thefirst responder may be a user with access to a basic medical data of apatient.

The term “Authorized Medical Personnel” (AMP) and variations thereof, asused herein is defined as a user who is authorized to access fullmedical data of a patient. Generally, the Authorized Medical Personnelmay provide medical treatment to a patient in a medical facility, but isnot limited to, an emergency room, a hospital, a clinic, or so forth.Also, the medical personnel may only be authorized to access an advancedlevel of the medical records and charts of a patient stored in the EHRdatabase, when the medical personnel is present within the medicalfacility.

The term “Medical Emergency Facility” (MEF) and variations thereof, asused herein is defined as a hospital emergency department or any otherfacility that provides emergency medical services to patients.

The term “Electronic Health Record” (EHR) and variations thereof, asused herein is defined as a certified electronic health record softwareand/or database that may store a Person's Identification data (PIIdata), a Person's health records and medical charts (PHI data), billingand accounting data, other data related to patients. The data associatedwith a patient may be stored as data fields within the EHR database.

The term “unprotected PII data” and variations thereof, as used hereinmay be defined as a basic PII data fields of a patient that may beavailable to be read by a commonly used publicly available softwareapplication. The unprotected PII data may include, but is not limitedto, a name, an emergency contact person name, an emergency contactnumber, and so forth.

The term “protected PII data” and variations thereof, as used herein maybe defined as an extra PII data fields that are being protected to beaccessible only by an authorized user. The protected PII data mayinclude, but is not limited to, a Social Security Number (SSN), anaddress, a unique identifier (e.g., a fingerprint, a DNA, retina, etc.),a face ID, and so forth.

The term “basic PHI data” and variations thereof, as used herein may bedefined as a basic PHI data of a patient, which may include, but is notlimited to, a blood type, a diabetes type, a DNR, Alzheimer's, commonallergies, implants, and so forth. The basic PHI data may be accessed bythe users in an online mode as well as in an offline mode.

The term “extended PHI data” and variations thereof, as used herein maybe defined as a PHI data that may include full medical records andcharts of a patient, which may be based on doctors' visits,hospitalization records, and so forth, which are stored in the EHRdatabase. The extended PHI data may be accessed by only an authorizeduser in an online mode only and when the user is present in a medicalfacility.

The term “online mode” and variations thereof, as used herein may bedefined as a communication mode that requires a communication network ona user device to access medical data of a patient from the EHR database.

The term “offline mode” and variations thereof, as used herein may bedefined as a communication mode that requires no communication networkon a user device to access medical data of a patient from the EHRdatabase.

The term “emergency preparedness” and variations thereof, as used hereinmay be defined as steps taken before, during and after an emergencysituation in order to reduce its impact on patients. The emergencysituation may include, but not limited to, floods, tornadoes,earthquakes, explosions, fires, lost seniors with Alzheimer's,accidents, evacuations, and so forth.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram depicting a health care system 100 forcommunicating medical data of a patient to a user, according to anembodiment of the present invention. The user may be a Samaritan, afirst responder, or a medical personnel. In another embodiment of thepresent invention, the system 100 may be used for validating an identityof an individual by an authorized personnel. In an embodiment of thepresent invention, the medical personnel may be, but not limited to, ageneral physician, a nurse practitioner, a physician assistant, asurgeon, a medical assistance provider, an emergency rescue team, and soforth. The authorized personnel may include, but not limited to, a lawenforcement officer, a security guard, and so forth.

The health care system 100 is capable for communicating medical data ofa patient to a user before and/or during a medical treatment for minorand/or major injuries occurred in emergency conditions such as, but notlimited to, lost seniors with Alzheimer's, accidents, evacuations,earthquakes, floods, and other emergencies. The minor injury mayinclude, but not restricted to, non-surgical, and/or non-lifethreatening injuries and the major injury may include, but not limitedto, surgical, and/or life-threatening injuries. In another embodiment,the system 100 may be capable for validation of an individual by anauthorized personal in places such as, museums, religious places odassembly, recruitment in companies, police stations, high-securitylaboratories, tourist places, and so forth.

The health care system 100 may include a plurality of patient devices102 a-m (hereinafter referred to as “a patient device 102”). The patientdevice 102 may be, but is not limited to, a mobile device, a smartphone, a tablet computer, a portable computer, a laptop computer, and soforth. Embodiments are intended to include or otherwise cover any typeof a patient device 102, including known, related art, and/or laterdeveloped technologies. The patient device 102 may be used by anyindividual, in an embodiment of the present invention.

Further, the patient device 102 may include one or more softwareapplications such as, but is not restricted to, an ecommerceapplication, a location-based service application, a navigationapplication, a camera/imaging application, an Optical CharacterRecognition (OCR) application, a media player application, a socialnetworking application, and the like. In an embodiment of the presentinvention, the patient device 102 may include a proprietary healthcaremedical application 106a-n (hereinafter referred to as “a medicalapplication 106”). A patient and/or an individual may access the medicalapplication 106 by using log-in credentials, in an embodiment of thepresent invention. In an embodiment of the present invention, themedical application 106 may be a software application that is registeredwith a health care platform 108. First, the patient and/or an individualperson registers with a service provider of the medical application 106,and a patient and/or an individual person's profile is created, as shownin FIG. 7A. Further, the patient and/or individual person may update thepatient profile by providing identification data and/or medical datathat may include, Personal Identifiable Information (PII) and/orProtected Health Information (PHI) on the medical application 106, asshown in FIG. 10. In an embodiment of the present invention, theidentification data may include, but not limited to, a name, an age, abiometric, and so forth. In an embodiment of the present invention, thePersonal Identifiable Information may include any data that may be usedto identify a person for example, a patient in a hospital, or a visitorat a museum. The Protected Health Information may be any data such aspersonal data and/or medical data of the patient, which requiresmandating protection and may be accessed only by an authorized user.

Similarly, the health care system 100 may further include a plurality ofuser devices 104 a-104 n (hereinafter referred to as “a user device104”). The user device 104 may be, but is not limited to, a mobiledevice, a smart phone, a tablet computer, a portable computer, a laptopcomputer, and so forth. Embodiments are intended to include or otherwisecover any type of user device 104, including known, related art, and/orlater developed technologies.

Further, the user device 104 may include one or more softwareapplications such as, but not restricted to, an ecommerce application, alocation-based service application, a navigation application, acamera/imaging application, an Optical Character Recognition (OCR)application, a media player application, a social networkingapplication, and the like. In one embodiment of the present invention,the user device 104 may include the proprietary medical application 106.A user may send and/or receive medical data by using the medicalapplication 106, in an embodiment of the present invention. In order toaccess the medical application 106, the user may log-in within themedical application 106 by using log-in credentials, in an embodiment ofthe present invention. The user may first register with a serviceprovider of the medical application 106, and then a user profile iscreated. In an embodiment of the present invention, the user may be alicensed medical practitioner. In another embodiment of the presentinvention, the user may be an emergency first responder.

Further, the health care system 100 may include a scanning device 105.In an embodiment of the present invention, the scanning device 105 maybe any device that is capable of scanning any document (e.g., a text, animage, etc.), and/or physiological or behavioral characteristics of aperson, which may include, but not limited to, fingerprints, facialimages, iris recognition, retina recognition, voice recognition, and soforth. In an embodiment of the present invention, the scanning device105 may be any software application installed in the patient device 102,and/or the user device 104, which is publicly available for scanning.The scanning device 105 may be used by any Samaritan to read unprotectedPII data of a patient in case of a medical emergency situation. Inanother embodiment of the present invention, the scanning device 105 maybe, but not limited to, a scanner, a barcode reader, a mobile device, asmart phone, a tablet computer, a portable computer, a laptop computer,and so forth. Embodiments are intended to include or otherwise cover anytype of scanning device 105, including known, related art, and/or laterdeveloped technologies.

Further, the medical application 106 may be managed by a health careplatform 108, in an embodiment of the present invention. The working ofthe health care platform 108 is described in detail in conjunction withFIG. 3. In an embodiment of the present invention, the health careplatform 108 may be a software application stored in a server (notshown). In another embodiment of the present invention, the health careplatform 108 may be implemented as a hardware, a firmware, a software,or a combination thereof managed by a third-party service provider.

The sharing of the identification data and/or the medical data from thehealth care platform 108 to the patient device 102, the user device 104and/or the scanning device 105, or vice versa may be done through acommunication network 110. The communication network 110 may include adata network such as, but not restricted to, the Internet, Local AreaNetwork (LAN), Wide Area Network (WAN), Metropolitan Area Network (MAN),etc. In certain embodiments of the present invention, the communicationnetwork 110 may include a wireless network, such as, but not restrictedto, a cellular network and may employ various technologies includingEnhanced Data Rates For Global Evolution (EDGE), General Packet RadioService (GPRS), Global System For Mobile Communications (GSM), InternetProtocol Multimedia Subsystem (IMS), Universal Mobile TelecommunicationsSystem (UMTS) etc. In some embodiments of the present invention, thecommunication network 110 may include or otherwise cover networks orsub-networks, each of which may include, for example, a wired orwireless data pathway. The communication network 110 may include acircuit-switched voice network, a packet-switched data network, or anyother network capable for carrying electronic communications. Forexample, the communication network 110 may include networks based on theInternet Protocol (IP) or Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM), and maysupport voice usage, for example, VoIP, Voice-over-ATM, or othercomparable protocols used for voice data communications.

Examples of the communication network 110 may further include, but arenot limited to, a Personal Area Network (PAN), a Storage Area Network(SAN), a Home Area Network (HAN), a Campus Area Network (CAN), a LocalArea Network (LAN), a Wide Area Network (WAN), a Metropolitan AreaNetwork (MAN), a Virtual Private Network (VPN), an Enterprise PrivateNetwork (EPN), the Internet, a Global Area Network (GAN), and so forth.Embodiments are intended to include or otherwise cover any type ofcommunication network, including known, related art, and/or laterdeveloped technologies to connect the components of the health caresystem 100 with each other.

Further, the identification data and/or the medical data shared by thepatient and/or the user may be stored in a database. In an embodiment ofthe present invention, the database may be an Electronic Health Record(EHR) database 111. In an embodiment of the present invention, thePersonal Identifiable Information (PII) data may be stored in the EHRdatabase 111. In another embodiment of the present invention, theProtected Health Information (PHI) data may be stored in the EHRdatabase 111. The EHR database 111 may electronically store the medicaldata of patients in a structured digital format. The structured digitalformat may enable the users to easily search for medical data associatedwith a patient, which may aid patient care. The stored medical data maythen be accessed by various healthcare user when required in medicalemergency conditions. The EHR database 111 may store the medical data incompliance with Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act(HIPAA). The EHR database 111 may be a certified database when it meetsthe standards and regulatory requirements defined by the federalgovernment.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram depicting medical data stored in differentcomponents of the health care system 100, according to an embodiment ofthe present invention.

The identification data may include, but not limited to, biometric dataof an individual. The Personal Identifiable Information (PII) data maybe stored in the EHR database 111, such that the PII data may include,but not limited to, a name, an address, a date of birth, a contactinformation, a social security number, an employee ID, types ofidentification allergies, types of implants, a person being Alzheimer's,common medication, any other common and rarely changeable healthinformation specifics of an industry (e.g., military, police force,etc.), and so forth. Further, the Protected Health Information (PHI)data may include, but not limited to, a blood type, a diabetes type,allergies, implanted devices, a code status, a link to a cloud database,a common organ donor, an Alzheimer's type of specific data based on auser's requirement and specifics of an industry (e.g., police force,military, etc.), and so forth. The PHI data may be stored in the EHRdatabase 111, in an embodiment of the present invention. In anembodiment of the present invention, each of the medical data providedby the patient may be stored as a data form in the database such as, theEHR database 111.

A cloud database that is linked to the Protected Health Information(PHI) may store other necessary information like medications and/orsurgeries. Also, as every agency, hospital or any other medical facilitymay request some specific information about the patient, the PHI datamay be accustomed accordingly.

The Personal Identifiable Information (PII) stored in the EHR database111 may also comprise other necessary information like name of agovernment organization or a corporate with which a user is associated,rank of the user, user official identification number, etc.

In addition, the patient and/or an individual may define a level ofsharing 202 for each data form stored in the EHR database 111, in anembodiment of the present invention. The level of sharing may include,but not limited to, allow to all, allow to emergency only, includingNational Provider Identifier (NPI) list, excluding NPI list, anauthorization code in compliance with Health Insurance Portability andAccountability Act (HIPAA), which may grant access to a user for aspecific patient only, and so forth. In an embodiment of the presentinvention, the level of sharing 202 may be stored in the database suchas, the EHR database 111, or any other database with a patient medicalcode to identify medical data associated with the patient. Further, themedical data provided by the patient may be filtered, by the health careplatform 108, as a protected shareable medical data 204, and anunprotected medical data 208. The protected medical data 204 may includethe extended PHI data such as, but not limited to, medical records, amedical imaging, prescriptions, billing information, a log of visits toone or more medical personnel, and so forth. The unprotected medicaldata may be, but not limited to, the unprotected PII data 208 that mayinclude, but not limited to, a name, an emergency contact person name,an emergency contact number, and so forth.

Further, the medical data and their level of sharing, defined by thepatient may be embedded in a medical identifier 206. In anotherembodiment of the present invention, the identification data may beembedded in an identification code 206. In an embodiment of the presentinvention, the medical identifier 206 may be, but not limited to, aQuick Response (QR) code, a Bar code, a unique identifier, such as abiometric, and so forth. In an embodiment of the present invention, themedical identifier 206 may include data such as, but not limited to, aPII open code, a PII encoded code, a second medical identifier (e.g., aURL to the EHR database 111 that stores the protected medical data 204),an authorization code, a patient code, and so forth. In case of anevent, such as, an accident, a first emergency responder 210 may accessa set of the medical data associated with a patient by scanning amedical identifier associated with the patient through a registeredsoftware application such as the medical application 106, even in anoffline mode. The set of medical data accessed by the first respondermay include, but not limited to, the unprotected PII data, protected PIIdata, and the basic PHI data. In an embodiment of the present invention,the first responder 210 may access the unprotected PII data even in anoffline mode. In another embodiment of the present invention, the firstresponder 210 may access the protected PII data and the basic PHI dataof the patient, only in an online mode, based on the authorization ofthe first responder's ID, a contact information, etc.

Further, after authorization of the first responder 210, the health caresystem 100 may provide facilities 212 to the user, which may includedata such as, but not limited to, a NPI, a tax ID, a contactinformation, an access to a shareable database (e.g., the EHR database111) comprising the medical data of the patient. In an embodiment of thepresent invention, the first responder 210 may access the medical databy using the first medical identifier and log-in credentials of thepatient as well as the responder's, only in an online mode. The accessedmedical data by the first responder 210 may assist in providing a bestmedical aid to the patient and may avoid possible complications andrisks.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram depicting components of the health careplatform 108 of the health care system 100, according to an embodimentof the present invention. The health care platform 108 may include, butnot limited to, a user interface module 302, a data collection module304, a data transformation module 306, an identifier generation module308, a data access module 310, a notification module 312, and a printmodule 314.

The user interface module 302 may be configured to provide a userinterface of the medical application 106 on the patient device 102and/or the user device 104. First, the patient and/or an individual mayinstall the medical application 106 in the patient device 102, in anonline mode. The health care platform 108 may then create an account onthe medical application 106 for the patient to avail medicalservices/treatment during and/or after emergency situations, such as,but not limited to, an accident, evacuation, etc. In another embodimentof the present invention, the health care platform 108 may create anaccount on the medical application 106 for the individual foridentification purposes. In an embodiment of the present invention, theuser interface module 302 may function in conjunction with the datacollection module 304 in order to collect information from the patientand/or an individual. In an embodiment of the present invention, theinformation may include, but not limited to, a name, an age, a date ofbirth, a residential address, an office address, medical data, medicalreports, prescriptions, a blood type, an emergency note, an emergencycontact, biometric data, and so forth. In another embodiment of thepresent invention, the patient and/or an individual may define a levelof sharing of the medical data such as, whether the patient and/or anindividual desires to disclose complete or limited medical data to auser, a duration (e.g., all past, present and future period, from thedate signed until following event, etc.) for which the user may accessthe medical data, whether the medical data to be disclosed with any userrequesting the medical data during a treatment, a current user underBusiness Associate Agreements (BAA) only, which is a type of legalcontract that must be signed between parties that use, transmit, receiveor exchange the medical data, for example, between a patient and a user,defined user only, any user except a defined user, an emergency only,and so forth. In an embodiment of the present invention, the level ofsharing of the medical data may be defined in compliance with HIPAA.

The user interface module 302 may further be configured to provide auser interface of the medical application 106 on the user device 104 tothe medical personnel to receive medical data associated with a patientfor providing medical assistance. The user may register with the healthcare platform 108 and the health care platform 108 may then create anaccount on the medical application 106. The health care platform 108 mayprovide log-in credentials to the user, in an embodiment of the presentinvention. The user may provide information, such as, but not limitedto, a name, a medical license number, a contact information,specialization, etc. In an embodiment of the present invention, the userinterface module 302 may function with the data collection module 304 tocollect the data of the user.

Further, the user interface module 302 may be configured to display alog-in user interface of the medical application 106 on the user device104 in an online mode. The user may log-in the medical application 106by using the log-in credentials, such as, but not limited to, a sign-inID and a password, and/or a unique identifier, for example, afingerprint, a face recognition, retina, etc. Embodiments of the presentinvention are intended to include or otherwise cover any type of data,including known, related art, and/or later developed technologies tosecurely log-in into the medical application 106.

Furthermore, the user interface module 302 may be configured tocustomize the medical application 106 based on a type of user, in anembodiment of the present invention. In an exemplary embodiment, theuser interface module 302 may customize the medical application 106 fora patient, in which the patient may locate nearby hospitals, medicalrecords, medical personnel contact information, and so forth. Inaddition, the user interface module 302 may customize the medicalapplication 106 for a medical personnel, in which the medical personnelmay retrieve medical records of associated patients.

The data collection module 304 may be configured to generate a medicalrecords release form to be signed by the patient, in an embodiment ofthe present invention. The medical records release form may be a formthat provides a written authorization for the users to release medicaldata to the patient as well as a representative of the patient. The datacollection module 304 may further be configured to share the medicalrecords release form with a patient. The patient may then share thesigned medical records release form with the health care platform 108.

The data collection module 304 may further be configured to verify thedata received from the patient and/or the medical personnel, in anembodiment of the present invention. In case, if the medical data is notverified, then the data collection module 304 in communication with thenotification module 312 may provide an alert to the patient and/or themedical personnel to provide correct medical data.

Further, the data collection module 304 may be configured to collect theidentification data of the individual, in an embodiment of the presentinvention. The identification data may include, but not limited to,biometric data of the individual along with the medical data.

Furthermore, the data collection module 304 may be configured to updatethe data received from the patient, individual, and/or the medicalpersonnel, in an embodiment of the present invention. The data may beupdated periodically, such as, but not limited to, weekly, bi-weekly,monthly, every four days, and so forth.

The data collection module 304 may be configured to store the verifieddata collected from the patient and/or the individual, or user in adatabase, such as, the EHR database 111, in an embodiment of the presentinvention.

Further, the data collection module 304 may be configured to categorizethe medical data based on factors, such as, but not limited to, personaldata, medical data, level of sharing defined by the patient and/or HIPAArules and regulations, and so forth. In an embodiment of the presentinvention, the medical data may be divided into two categories, aPersonal Identifiable Information (PII), and a Protected HealthInformation (PHI). In an embodiment of the present invention, the PIIdata may include, but not limited to, a name, an address, a date ofbirth, a contact information, social security number, employee ID, typesof identification allergies, types of implants, person beingAlzheimer's, common medication, any other common and rarely changeablehealth information specifics of an industry (e.g., military, policeforce, etc.), and so forth. The PII data may further be categorized intoan unprotected PII data and a protected PII data. The unprotected PIIdata may include, a name, a contact person's information, and so forth,which may be accessed by any user even in an offline mode. The protectedPII data such as, but not limited to, social security number, employeeID, types of identification allergies, types of implants, person beingAlzheimer's, common medication, any other common and rarely changeablehealth information specifics of an industry etc. may be accessed by anauthorized user and in either an online mode or an offline mode.

Further, the PHI data may include, but not limited to, a blood type, adiabetes type, allergies, implanted devices, a medical code status, acommon organ donor, Alzheimer's type of specific data based on a user'srequirement and specifics of an industry, and so forth. The PHI data mayfurther be categorized into a basic PHI data and an extended PHI data.The basic PHI data may include, but is not limited to, a blood type, adiabetes type, a DNR, Alzheimer's, common allergies, implants, and soforth which may be accessed by an authorized user and in an online modeand/or an offline mode. On the other hand, the extended PHI data mayinclude full medical records and charts of a patient, which may be basedon doctors' visits, hospitalization records, and so forth, and may beaccessed by an authorized user and in an online mode only.

In addition, the data collection module 304 may further be configured toenable the patient and/or the individual, and/or the user to update themedical data periodically, in an embodiment of the present invention.

The data transformation module 306 may be configured to transform theidentification data, medical data into a secured format, in anembodiment of the present invention. The data transformation module 306may encrypt the medical data in order to eliminate unauthorized accessto the identification data, medical data. Encryption is a technique thatrenders the data into an unreadable form, which may be accessed only byan authorized user that holds a key and/or password to render the datainto a readable form. In an embodiment of the present invention, thedata transformation module 306 may encrypt the identification data,basic PHI data and/or the extended PHI data. In another embodiment ofthe present invention, the data transformation module 306 may encryptthe protected PII data. In yet another embodiment of the presentinvention, the data transformation module 306 may encrypt the protectedPII data, the basic PHI data, and the extended PHI data.

The data transformation module 306 may further be configured to decodethe encrypted identification data, and medical data. In an embodiment ofthe present invention, the data transformation module 306 may decode theencrypted medical data when an authorized user accesses the encryptedidentification data, and the medical data. The data transformationmodule 306 may function in conjunction with the data access module 310to decode the encrypted identification data, and the medical data. In anexemplary scenario, when a user is authorized by the data access module310 to access the medical data, then the data transformation module 306may decode the encrypted identification data, and the medical datarequired by the user.

The identifier generation module 308 may be configured to generate atleast one identification code based on the stored encrypted data of theindividual. The identification code may be for example, but not limitedto, a Quick Response (QR) code. The generated identification code may beused for identification of the individual in an offline mode. Further,the identifier generation module 308 may be configured to embed theidentification data into the identification code.

The identifier generation module 308 may be configured to generate oneor more medical identifiers associated with the patient. The identifiergeneration module 308 may be configured to generate a first medicalidentifier that may be used to access a first set of the medical data.The first set of the medical data may be accessed by a user even in anoffline mode. In an embodiment of the present invention, the firstmedical identifier may be, but not limited to, a Quick Response (QR)code, a bar code, and so forth. In an exemplary scenario, when a patientmeets with an accident, an emergency first responder may help thepatient to get first aid by scanning the first medical identifier, i.e.,QR code. The first medical identifier may be scanned by any OpticalCharacter Recognition (OCR) device, such as, but not limited to, ascanner, a smart phone, a mobile device, and so forth. In case, the userscans the first medical identifier by any software application or ascanning device, then the user may only access an unprotected PII dataassociated with the patient even in an offline mode. In case, the useris authorized and is in an offline mode, then the authorized user mayaccess the unprotected PII data and a basic PHI data of the patient byscanning the first medical identifier using the proprietary medicalapplication 106. In case, the user is authorized and is in an onlinemode, then the authorized user may access the unprotected PII data, theprotected PII data, and the basic PHI data of the patient by scanningthe first medical identifier using the proprietary medical application106. In an embodiment of the present invention, the identifiergeneration module 308 may be configured to embed the first medicalidentifier into the identification code.

The identifier generation module 308 may further be configured togenerate a second medical identifier that may be used to access a secondset of the medical data in an online mode only. The second medicalidentifier may be, but not limited to, a Uniform Resource Locator (URL).The second medical identifier may be used as a web link to access themedical data stored in the EHR database 111. In an embodiment of thepresent invention, the second medical identifier may be used by a usersuch as, an authorized medical personnel, to access the extended PHIdata that may be used to provide medical aid to the patient only in anonline mode only. In an embodiment of the present invention, theidentifier generation module 308 may be configured to embed the secondmedical identifier into the identification code.

The identifier generation module 308 may be configured to generate a newmedical identifier, in case, updated medical data is received by thedata collection module 304.

The identifier generation module 308 may further be configured to adjustthe size of the first medical identifier based on the requirement of thepatient. In an embodiment of the present invention, the size of thefirst medical identifier may be, but not limited to, 1.6 inch by 1.6inch. The bigger the size of the first medical identifier, the moremedical data it may store. In an exemplary scenario, a first medicalidentifier of size 0.75 inch by 0.75 inch may store 234 characters, afirst medical identifier of size 0.9 inch by 0.9 inch may store 279characters, and a first medical identifier of size 1.2 inch by 1.2 inchmay store 587 characters. In an embodiment of the present invention, thegenerated first medical identifier may then be shared with the patient,which may be printed on an article, for example, but not limited to, awristband, a dog tag, a driving license, a passport, a car windshield, acredit card, a ID card, a wearable jewelry, a refrigerator magnet, achain, a mobile phone, a helmet, and so forth. Embodiments of thepresent invention may cover or intend to include any type of an articlethat the patient carries at most/every time.

Further, the identifier generation module 308 may be configured to embedthe medical data into the medical identifiers. In an embodiment of thepresent invention, the identifier generation module 308 may beconfigured to embed the PII data into the first medical identifier. Inan embodiment of the present invention, the identifier generation module308 may embed the unprotected PII data into the first medical identifierin a non-encrypted format, which may be read by any scanning applicationand/or device, such as, but not limited to, a scanner. In anotherembodiment of the present invention, the protected medical data, suchas, but not limited to, the protected PII data, the basic PHI data, or acombination thereof may be embedded in the first medical identifier inan encrypted format, which may be decoded by using the medicalapplication 106 of an authorized user device 104.

The identifier generation module 308 may further be configured to embeda second medical identifier such as, a URL into the first medicalidentifier, which may be used to access the extended PHI data of thepatient through the medical application 106 of the user device 104.

The print module 314 may be configured to print the identification code,in an embodiment of the present invention. The identification code maybe printed on an article such as, but not limited to, a label, apassport, a wristband, ID cards, wearable articles, and so forth.Further, the print module 314 may be configured to print the firstmedical identifier. In an embodiment of the present invention, the printmodule 314 may be configured to print the first medical identifier on anarticle.

The scanning module 318 may be configured to scan the identificationcode printed on the article. In an embodiment of the present invention,the scanning module 318 may be configured to scan biometrics of theindividual in real-time.

In an embodiment, a medical identifier is provided in a static/physicalform (e.g., a sticker, printing on wearables jewelry, driver's licenses,etc.). Alternatively, or additionally, a medical identifier is providedin a dynamic form (e.g., electronic/computer storable/readable form). Adynamic medical identifier may be downloaded to a smart user device(e.g., a mobile telephone and/or a wearable device), such as user device104 in FIGS. 1 and 4A-4G. A dynamic medical identifier may be useful topermit updating (e.g., over a wireless network). A static medicalidentifier may be useful in a situation where a dynamic medicalidentifier is inaccessible (e.g., in a situation where the client isphysically and/or mentally unable to operate/unlock the device, and/orwhere the device is inaccessible, damaged, or without electrical power).

The data access module 310 may be configured to enable the personnel toaccess the medical data of the individual based on a level ofauthorization for the personnel defined by the individual. In anembodiment of the present invention, the data access module 310 may beconfigured to enable the personnel such as, but not limited to, amedical personnel during a medical emergency, to access the medical dataof the individual only when an identity of the individual is validatedby the validation module 320. In an embodiment of the present invention,the medical data may be accessed from the EHR database 111. Further, thedata access module 310 may be configured to enable the personnel toaccess the medical data of the individual in an offline mode. Further,the data access module 310 may be configured to provide access to theidentification data to the personnel in the offline mode, when thegenerated identification code is scanned by the medical application 106.

The data access module 310 may be configured to authorize a patientand/or a user to access the medical data stored in the EHR database 111.In an embodiment of the present invention, the data access module 310may be configured to identify a patient whose medical data is stored inthe EHR database 111, based on log-in credentials such as, a user ID anda password, a unique identifier or biometric, for example, afingerprint, a face ID, and so forth. In another embodiment of thepresent invention, the data access module 310 may be configured toidentify and/or authorize a user based on log-in credentials such as, auser ID and a password, a unique identifier, for example, a fingerprint,a face ID, and so forth to access the medical data associated with apatient.

In case, the user is, for example, a Samaritan, then the user scans thefirst medical identifier either by any scanning application or ascanning device, and may access the unprotected PII data associated withthe patient in an offline mode.

In case, the user is a first responder and scans the first medicalidentifier by using the medical application 106, then the user isauthorized based on the log-in credentials. In case, the log-incredentials of the user matches with the stored credentials of the user,then the data access module 310 may authorize the user and a permissionis granted to the user to access the unprotected PII data, the protectedPII data, the basic PHI data, or a combination thereof, in the onlinemode and/or offline mode.

In case, the user is a medical personnel, and scans the first medicalidentifier by using the medical application 106, then the user isauthorized based on the log-in credentials. In case, the log-incredentials matches with the stored credentials of the user, then thedata access module 310 may authorize the user and a permission isgranted to the user to access the unprotected PII data, the protectedPII data, the basic PHI data, or a combination thereof in the offlinemode and/or online mode, and to access the extended PHI data, in theonline mode only. In an embodiment of the present invention, in anonline mode, the authorized medical personnel may click on the URL toaccess the extended PHI data of the patient stored in the EHR database111. In another embodiment of the present invention, the authorizedmedical personnel may click on the URL, and also scan a uniqueidentifier, such as a biometric of the patient using the medicalapplication 106 to access the extended PHI data associated with thepatient. In yet another embodiment of the present invention, theauthorized medical personnel may scan the unique identifier of thepatient using the medical application 106, which may act as a URL toaccess the extended PHI data associated with the patient. In anembodiment of the present invention, the authorized medical personnelmay access the extended PHI data associated with a patient in an onlinemode only and when the authorized medical personnel is present withinthe vicinity of the medical facility such as, an emergency room, ahospital, a clinic, and so forth.

Further, the data access module 310 may be configured to enable the userto download and/or save a copy of the medical data on the user device104, in an online mode. The user may download the medical data of thepatient, which may further be consulted during the treatment of thepatient. In an offline mode, the user may consult the downloaded/savedmedical data during the treatment. In addition, the data access module310 may be configured to download the medical data in a predeterminedorder. In an embodiment of the present invention, the predeterminedorder may be defined by the service provider of the health care platform108, or is based on laws in compliance with HIPAA. The medical datastored in the database in the data form may be downloaded as a datastring in the medical personnel device 104.

Further, the data access module 310 may be configured to automaticallyterminate an electronic session or logs-off the user from the medicalapplication 106 on the user device 104 after a predetermined time ofinactivity. The data access module 310 may provide the user to accessthe medical data of a patient for a specific time duration, for example,during a treatment of the patient. Further, the data access module 310may be configured to automatically logs-off the user from the medicalapplication 106 in compliance with HIPAA laws and/or due to inactivityon the medical application 106 for a preset period of time and thereforeterminate an electronic session between the user device 104 and thedatabase, such as, the EHR database 111.

Also, the data access module 310 may be configured to enable the patientand/or user to locate a nearest hospital in a defined area such as,within five miles, or 10 miles, etc. In order to find a nearesthospital, a Global Positioning System (GPS) of the patient device 102and/or the user device 104 may be turned on, in an embodiment of thepresent invention. In addition, the data access module 310 may beconfigured to enable the patient and/or user to find an address on themedical application 106. In an embodiment of the present invention, thedata access module 310 may be configured to direct the patient and/oruser on a navigation application of the patient device 102 and/or theuser device 104 in order to find an address.

Further, the notification module 312 may be configured to generate anotification. In an embodiment of the present invention, thenotification module 312 may generate a notification when the medicaldata is accessed by a user. The notification may include, but notlimited to, a name of hospital, a contact details of the hospital, aname of the user, a location of the patient, and so forth. Thenotification module 312 may further be configured to transmit thenotification to an emergency contact whose information is provided bythe patient. In an embodiment of the present invention, the notificationmay be transmitted by, but not limited to, a text message, an email, avoice call, and so forth.

The training module 316 may be configured to enable an employee of afirm that provides the medical identifier to the patients, to providetrainings on the usage of the medical application 106, in an embodimentof the present invention. In another embodiment of the presentinvention, the training module 316 may be configured to providetrainings to the medical personnel to scan the medical identifiers andretrieve the medical data associated with a patient.

The validation module 320 may be configured to enable the personnel tovalidate an identity of the individual. The validation module 320 may beconfigured to enable the personnel to identify a positive identity of anindividual by scanning biometric of the individual in real-time and theidentification code printed on an article associated with theindividual. In an embodiment of the present invention, the scanning ofthe biometric of the individual in real-time and the identification codemay be done by using the medical application 106. The validation module320 may further be configured to compare the scanned real-time biometricof the individual with the biometric data embedded in the identificationcode associated with the individual. In case, the validation module 320determines that the scanned real-time biometric of the individualmatches with the biometric data embedded in the identification codeassociated with the individual, then the validation module 320 may beconfigured to validate the identity of the individual as a positiveidentity. On the other hand, in case, the validation module 320determines that the scanned real-time biometric of the individual doesnot match with the biometric data embedded in the identification codeassociated with the individual, then the validation module 320 mayinvalidate the identity of the individual as a negative identity.Further, the validation module 320 may be configured to transmit theidentified identity of the individual.

The notification module 312 may be then configured to notify about theidentity of the individual to the personnel.

FIG. 4A illustrates a graphical user interface 400 of a medicalapplication 106 on a user device 104 for medical purpose, according toan exemplary embodiment of the present invention. A “scan” button 402 isused by the user for scanning purposes. When a user clicks on the “scan”button 402, a user interface 404 is displayed on the user device 104, asshown in FIG. 4B. A number of scanning options 404 a-404 e are displayedon the user device 104, which may include, but not limited to, a firstmedical identifier (e.g., QR code), a Radio Frequency Identification(RFID), a biometric such as, but not limited to, a fingerprint, an irisscan, a face ID, an eye scan, a DNA scan, and so forth, of a patient. Inan embodiment of the present invention, the personnel may use a cameraof the user device 104 to scan the identification code and the biometricof the individual. The personnel may scan the real-time biometric suchas a fingerprint 428, of the individual and the identification code ofthe individual as shown in FIG. 4G. In an embodiment of the presentinvention, the user may use a camera of the user device 104 to scan thefirst medical identifier. In case, the user desires to scan the firstmedical identifier, then a QR code 406 associated with a patient isscanned by the user device 104, as shown in FIG. 4C. Therefore, the usermay then be able to access a set of medical data in a readable format asper the level of authorization. Once the QR code 406 is scanned, anunprotected PII data, a protected PII data, a basic PHI data, or acombination thereof, associated with the patient is displayed on theuser device 104, which may include, a first name, a last name, anemergency contact, a date of birth, a gender, and so forth. In case, theuser scans the QR code by any scanning application and/or device (otherthan the user device 104), then the unprotected PII data of the patientmay be displayed in a data string, for example, PII % NAME % DOB %ADDRESS % CONTACTNUMBER % MESSAGEFOREMERGENCY CONTACT % PHI % NUMBER.

In order to log-in the medical application 106, the user may click on a“log-in” button 408 as shown in the FIG. 4A, which may redirect the userto a graphical user interface 410 as shown in FIG. 4D. In an embodimentof the present invention, the “log in” button 408 may be used toauthorize a user who desires to access the protected medical data inorder to provide medical treatment to the patient in an emergencycondition. In an embodiment of the present invention, the user log-ininto the medical application 106 by providing log-in credentials suchas, a username 412, and a password 414. After entering the log-incredentials, a “Log-in” button 416 is pressed. In another embodiment ofthe present invention, the user may log-in into the medical application106 by clicking on an “other log-in option” button 417, in which theuser may provide a unique identifier, or any other log-in credentials.Embodiments of the present invention may cover or intend to include anylog-in option, including known, related art, or later developedtechnologies to log-in into the medical application 106. The log-incredential of the user is required to identify the user and to determinewhich data fields are to be made visible to the user based on a level ofauthorization defined by the patient. By clicking on the “Log-in” button416, the electronic session may be extended for a regulated amount oftime in compliance with HIPAA. In an offline mode, the user, as per thelevel of authorization, may not be able to access and/or download theprotected medical data associated with the patient. In addition, byclicking on a “I forgot my credentials” button (not shown), anotification may be displayed on the user interface 410 for how torestore the credentials.

Further, a user interface displaying a “PII” tab 420 and a “PHI” tab 418is shown on the user device 104. In case, the user is not logged in themedical application 106 and the user clicks on the “PII” tab 420, thenthe unprotected PII data of the patient is displayed on the user device104. In case, the user is logged in the medical application 106 and theuser clicks on the “PII” tab 420, then the protected PII data along withthe unprotected PII data of the patient is displayed on the user device104.

In case, the user is not logged in the medical application 106 and theuser clicks on the “PHI” tab 418, then the user is redirected to theuser interface 410 to first log-in into the medical application 106 toaccess the protected medical data. Once, the user is logged in themedical application 106, then the basic PHI data 424 is displayed on theuser device 104 even in an offline mode.

Further, in order to access the extended PHI data of the patient, theuser needs to scan a unique identifier such as, but not limited to, abiometric of the patient. Embodiments of the present invention may coveror intend to include any other unique identifier, including known,related art, or later developed technologies to provide access to theuser for extended PHI data. The user may then clicks on a “scan” button426, as shown in the FIG. 4F. A fingerprint 428 of the patient isscanned as shown in FIG. 4G, which may be used to identify the patientand then to provide access to the extended PHI data to the user. Theidentification of the patient may include, but not limited to, a name, aprimary language, a secondary language, a department, a service branch,a status, a rank (e.g., Major General, etc.), and so forth. In anembodiment of the present invention, the fingerprint of the patient maybe used as a URL to authorize the user of the user device 104 to accessthe extended PHI data stored in the EHR database 111.

In reference to the FIG. 4A, the patient and/or the user may findnearest hospitals within the medical application 106 by clicking on a“nearest hospital” button 430. In order to search for a nearesthospital, the patient device 102 and/or the user device 104 should be inan online mode. In addition, the patient and/or the user may find anaddress on the medical application 106 by clicking on a “find address”button 432. Further, additional options such as, a possibility to renewlicense, a quick navigation to “nearest hospitals”, a “find address”functionality, a log out option, etc. may be displayed by clicking on a“menu” button (not shown) on the medical application 106.

FIG. 5A is a flowchart of a method 500 for communicating medical data ofa patient to a medical personnel, according to an embodiment of thepresent invention.

At step 502, the health care platform 108 may collect medical dataassociated with a patient. The medical data may include, but not limitedto, a PII Data and a PHI data. As discussed above, the PII data mayinclude, but not limited to, a name, an address, a date of birth, acontact information, social security number, employee ID, types ofidentification allergies, types of implants, person being Alzheimer's,common medication, any other common and rarely changeable healthinformation specifics of an industry (e.g., military, police force,etc.), current and past diagnosis and medications, and so forth.Further, the PHI data may include, but not limited to, a blood type andRH factor, a diabetes type, allergies, implanted devices, a medical codestatus, a link to a database, a common organ donor, Alzheimer's type ofspecific data based on a user's requirement and specifics of anindustry, and so forth. In addition, the health care platform 108 maycategorize the medical data based on factors, such as, but not limitedto, personal data, medical data, level of sharing defined by thepatient, HIPAA laws, and so forth.

At step 504, the health care platform 108 may encrypt the medical datacollected from the patient. The medical data may be encrypted in orderto eliminate unauthorized access to the medical data. Further, at step506, the health care platform 108 may store the medical data in one ormore databases, such as, the EHR database 111.

Next, at step 508, the health care platform 108 may generate medicalidentifiers based on the medical data collected from the patient. Afirst medical identifier may be generated, which may be used to access afirst set of the medical data. In addition, a second medical identifiermay be generated, which may be used to access a second set of themedical data only in an online mode. A second set of the medical datamay be embedded as a web link in the second medical identifier, forexample, a URL to a database that stores a second set of the medicaldata, which may include, but not limited to, extended PHI data. In anembodiment of the present invention, the second medical identifier maybe, but not limited to, a unique identifier, such as, but not limitedto, a fingerprint of the patient.

Further, at step 510, the health care platform 108 may authorize a userto access the medical data by using the medical identifiers, in anembodiment of the present invention. The health care platform 108 mayauthorize the user based on log-in credentials. The authorization of theuser is done in an online mode on the user device 104. Once, the user isauthorized, the health care platform 108 may display the medical data tothe user, at step 512. In order to display the medical data, the usermay scan the first medical identifier by using any OCR device to accessthe unprotected PII data. Further, to access the protected PII data,basic PHI data, and/or the extended PHI data, the user may first have toscan the QR code with the medical application 106 installed on the userdevice 104 and then clicks on the URL link and/or may scan thefingerprint of the patient, which directs the user to a web portal, suchas, an Electronic Health Record (EHR) portal that displays the medicaldata. The extended PHI data may be accessed by the user device 104 in anonline mode only.

FIG. 5B is a flowchart of a method 550 for validating an identity of anindividual by a personnel, according to another embodiment of thepresent invention.

At step 552, the health care platform 108 may collect identificationdata of an individual. The identification data may include, but notlimited to, personal data (e.g., a name, an age, a gender, a photographof the individual, etc.), biometric data, demographic data, and so forthof the user. In an embodiment of the present invention, the biometricdata may be for example, but not limited to, a fingerprint data, an irisdata, and so forth.

At step 554, the health care platform 108 may encrypt the data collectedfrom the individual. The identification data may be encrypted in orderto eliminate unauthorized access to the identification data ofindividuals. Further, at step 556, the health care platform 108 maystore the identification data in one or more databases, such as, the EHRdatabase 111.

At step 558, the health care platform 108 may generate an identificationcode for the individual. The identification code may be embedded withthe identification data of the individual. Further, the generatedidentification code may be printed on an article associated with theindividual. As discussed above, the article may be, but not limited to,a wristband, a dog tag, a driving license, a passport, a car windshield,a credit card, a ID card, a wearable jewelry, a refrigerator magnet, achain, a mobile phone, a helmet, and so forth. Embodiments of thepresent invention may cover or intend to include any type of an articlethat the patient carries at most/every time.

Further, at step 560, the health care platform 108 may enable anauthorized personnel to scan the generated identification code of theindividual, at a secured place. In an embodiment of the presentinvention, the authorized personnel may scan the identification code byusing the medical application 106. In addition, the health care platform108 may enable the authorized personnel to scan a real-time biometric ofthe individual.

At step 562, the health care platform 108 may enable the authorizedpersonnel to validate the identity of the individual when the scannedidentification code of the individual matches with the scanned real-timebiometric of the individual.

Next, at step 564, the health care platform 108 may enable theauthorized personnel to access medical data of the individual (ifrequired), only when the identity of the individual is valid. At step566, the health care platform 108 may display the identity and themedical data to the authorized personnel.

In an exemplary scenario, a person A arrives at a foreign custom counterin a foreign country. A law officer at the custom counter receivesidentification data such as, but not limited to, a name, an age,biometric data (e.g., a fingerprint, an iris scan, etc.) etc.; andmedical data such as, PII data. The scanned biometric data is thenencoded into an identification code generated for the person A. Thegenerated identification code is then printed on a label and awristband. The label is attached to a passport of the person A, alongwith entry Visa stamp, while the wristband with the identification codeis being provided to the person A as a wearable item. During securitychecks at secured places such as, an airport, a religious place, policestations, high security areas, etc. a local police officer may scan theidentification code provided on the wristband along with biometricscanned at real time by using the medical application 106 to identify apositive identity of the person A.

In another exemplary scenario, during a recruitment process intomilitary, police, firefighters and/or other unions, identification data(for example, a name, an age, a gender, biometric data such as, afingerprint) and medical data (PII and PHI data) are collected. Thecollected identification data and the medical data are encoded into anidentification code generated for each candidate. The generatedidentification code is then printed on a label, a wristband, an ID card,etc. or any other wearable article. Then, during emergency situations ormedical procedures, an identity of a person is positively identified byscanning the generated identification code and real time biometrics ofthe person by the medical application 106. Therefore, these proceduresmay add an extra level of security and may also minimize potentialerrors due to misidentification. In addition, this process may expeditetime required to identify an individual and access the medical dataassociated with the individual.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a method 600 for communicating medical data ofa patient to a user when the patient met with an accident, according toanother embodiment of the present invention.

At step 602, the user logs-in to the medical application 106. The log-inof the user in the medical application 106 may be required for theidentification and/or authorization of the user. The user may log-in themedical application 106 by using log-in credentials, such as, but notlimited to, a log-in ID and a password, and/or a unique identifier, forexample, a fingerprint, a face recognition, retina, and so forth.Embodiments of the present invention are intended to include orotherwise cover any type of unique identifier, including known, relatedart, and/or later developed technologies to securely log-in into themedical application 106. In addition, the user may automaticallylogs-off from the medical application 106 after a preset period of time.In an embodiment of the present invention, the user may automaticallylogs-off from the medical application 106 when an electronic sessionbetween the user device 104 and the EHR database 111 is terminated, dueto, for example, but not limited to, inactivity for a preset period oftime, HIPAA laws and regulations, and so forth.

Optionally, the user may skip the step 602 and proceeds to a step 604,where the user scans a medical identifier of a patient using the medicalapplication 106 on the user device 104. In an embodiment of the presentinvention, the medical identifier may be but not limited to, a QR code,a bar code, a unique identifier, and so forth, which may be attachedand/or printed on an article such as, but not limited to, a drivinglicense, a helmet, credit card, and so forth.

Further, at step 606, it is determined whether the user is logged-in themedical application 106 on the user device 104. In case, it isdetermined that the user is not logged-in the medical application 106,that is the user is in an offline mode, then the method 600 proceedstowards a step 608 and provide an unprotected PII data to the user.Further, a unique identifier, such as a biometric of the patient mayalso be scanned for the identification of the patient at step 610. Inaddition, using the unprotected PII data and/or the identification ofthe patient, an emergency contact person associated with the patient maybe contacted.

Next, at the step 606, in case it is determined that the user islogged-in the medical application 106 on the user device 104, that isthe user is in an online mode, and is authorized as per the patient'sHIPAA settings, then protected PII data and/or PHI data may be providedto the user based on the user's credentials and the patient's HIPAAsettings, at step 612. In case, the user is a first responder, then thefirst responder may browse between various PII data fields and PHI datafields and may use other functions of the medical application 106. In anembodiment of the present invention, some of the critical medical dataof the patient is available even in an offline mode to the firstresponder. In case, the user is a medical personnel, then the PII dataand the PHI data of the patient is accessed by the medical personnel inan online mode.

Further, at step 614, it is determined whether the user is in thevicinity of a medical facility. In case it is determined that themedical personnel is present within the vicinity of the medicalfacility, then the authorized medical personnel may access the extendedPHI data by using a unique identifier and/or other identificationtechniques of the patient, at step 616. In an embodiment of the presentinvention, the vicinity of a medical facility may be, but not limitedto, an emergency room, a hospital, a clinic, and so forth and should bein an online mode.

In case, it is determined that the user is not present within thevicinity of the medical facility, then the user may access only theprotected PII data and the PHI data.

Further, at step 618, it is determined whether a medical identifierassociated with a second patient is to be scanned. In case, it isdetermined that a medical identifier associated with the second patientis to be scanned, then the method 600 returns to the step 604 and scansthe medical identifier of the second patient. Otherwise, the method 600terminates.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the medical identifier may beused for security protection. In an exemplary scenario, each member of aChurch or a Synagogue is provided with a medical identifier by asecurity agency. When a person desires to enter the Church or theSynagogue, the medical identifier may be scanned by a scanning devicesuch as, but not limited to a, mobile device to authenticate that theperson is a member of the congregation and therefore, based on theauthentication, the person may further be authorized to enter or denyaccess to the premises. This may prevent any unauthorized activitieswithin the premises, such as, but not limited to, shooting, robbery, andso forth.

In another exemplary scenario, a medical identifier is generated foreach student. In case of an emergency situation, the medical data (e.g.,PII data, or PHI data) associated with a student may be accessed toprovide medical treatment to the student.

FIGS. 7A and 7B are flowcharts of a method 700 for registering a patientand collecting medical data for records for providing healthcare serviceto the patient, according to an embodiment of the present invention.

At step 702, the health care platform 108 familiarizes with a profileand needs of a patient. In an embodiment of the present invention, theprofile and needs may include data such as, but not limited to, a name,an address, a date of birth, a contact information, a social securitynumber, an employee ID, types of identification allergies, types ofimplants, a person being Alzheimer's, common medication, any othercommon and rarely changeable health information specifics of an industry(e.g., military, police force, etc.), and so forth. In anotherembodiment of the present invention, the profile and needs may include alevel of sharing of the medical data with users, as discussed in theFIG. 2.

At step 704, the health care platform 108 customizes the medicalapplication 106 for the patient, according to an embodiment of thepresent invention. Further, at step 706, the health care platform 108provides a training to the patient or a representative of the patient touse the medical application 106 as and when required such as, in case ofan emergency situation.

Further, at step 708, the health care platform 108 requests data fromthe patient. In an embodiment of the present invention, the data mayinclude PII data such as, but not limited to, a name, an address, a dateof birth, a contact information, a social security number, an employeeID, types of identification allergies, types of implants, a person beingAlzheimer's, common medication, any other common and rarely changeablehealth information specifics of an industry (e.g., military, policeforce, etc.), and so forth.

At step 710, the health care platform 108 determines whether the data isreceived from the patient or not. In case, the health care platform 108determines that the data is not received, then the method 700 returnsthe step 708 and again requests for the data from the patient. In case,the health care platform 108 determines that the data is received, thenthe method 700 proceeds towards a step 712.

Next, at the step 712, the health care platform 108 creates a profilefor the patient. The profile may include the data, such as the PII data,shared by the patient, in an embodiment of the present invention. Inaddition, after creating the profile, the health care platform 108 sendsa login credentials to the patient. The log-in credentials may be, suchas, but not limited to, a sign-in ID and a password, and/or a uniqueidentifier, for example, a fingerprint, a face recognition, retina, etc.Embodiments of the present invention are intended to include orotherwise cover any type of log-in credentials, including known, relatedart, and/or later developed technologies to securely log-in into themedical application 106.

At step 714, the health care platform 108 may create a medical recordrelease form and requests the patient to sign it, in an embodiment ofthe present invention. The medical record release form may authorize amedical personnel to share medical information with the health careplatform 108.

At step 716, the health care platform 108 determines whether the medicalrecord release form is signed by the patient. In case, the health careplatform 108 determines that the medical record release form is notsigned, then the method 700 returns to the step 714 and the health careplatform 108 again sends a request to the patient to sign the medicalrecord release form. In case, the health care platform 108 determinesthat the medical record release form is signed by the patient, then themethod 700 proceeds towards a step 718.

At the step 718, the health care platform 108 requests PHI data from themedical personnel, in an embodiment of the present invention. The PHIdata may include, but not limited to, a blood type, a diabetes type,allergies, implanted devices, a medical code status, a common organdonor, Alzheimer's type of specific data based on a user's requirementand specifics of an industry, and so forth.

Further, at step 720, the health care platform 108 determines whetherthe PHI data is received or not. In case the health care platform 108determines that the PHI data is not received, then the method 700returns to the step 718 and the health care platform 108 may send arequest to the medical personnel for the PHI data. In case, the healthcare platform 108 determines that the PHI is received, then the method700 proceeds towards a step 722.

At the step 722, the health care platform 108 may verify and match thePII data and the PHI data, in an embodiment of the present invention.Further, at step 724, the health care platform 108 determines whetherthe data is verified or not. In case, the health care platform 108determines that the data is not verified, then the method 700 returns tothe step 722 and verifies the data. In case, the health care platform108 determines that the data is verified, then the method 700 concludes.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of a method 800 for creating medical records andgenerating a medical identifier for the patient, according to anembodiment of the present invention.

At step 802, the health care platform 108 records the medical data intoa database, in an embodiment of the present invention. The health careplatform 108 may record or store the verified data, from the FIG. 7,into a database such as, the EHR database 111.

Further, at step 804, the health care platform 108 generates a firstmedical identifier for the patient, in an embodiment of the presentinvention. In an embodiment of the present invention, the first medicalidentifier may be, but not limited to, a Quick Response (QR) code, a barcode, and so forth. The first medical identifier may be scanned by anyOptical Character Recognition (OCR) device, such as, but not limited to,a scanner, a smart phone, a mobile device, and so forth. In anotherembodiment of the present invention, the health care platform 108 maygenerate a second medical identifier that may be used to access a secondset of the medical data in an online mode only, as discussed in the FIG.3. The second medical identifier may be, but not limited to, a UniformResource Locator (URL).

Next, at step 806, the health care platform 108 may print the generatedfirst medical identifier and send the printed medical identifier to thepatient, at a step 808.

At step 810, the health care platform 108 determines whether the medicalidentifier is received by the patient or not. In case, the health careplatform 108 determines that the medical identifier is not received bythe patient, then the method 800 returns to the step 808 and send themedical identifier again. In case, the health care platform 108determines that the medical identifier is received by the patient, thenthe method 800 concludes.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart of a method 900 for collecting data of medicalpersonnel, according to an embodiment of the present invention. At step902, the health care platform 108 contacts one or more medical personneland medical emergency facilities. Next, at step 904, the health careplatform 108 familiarized with profiles and needs of the one or moremedical personnel and medical emergency facilities. The profile of theone or more medical personnel and medical emergency facilities mayinclude, but not limited to, a name, an email id, a contact number, amedical ID, and so forth.

Further, at step 906, the health care platform 108 may customize themedical application 106 for the usage of the medical personnel, in anembodiment of the present invention. The customization of the medicalapplication 106, may include, but not limited to, a list of patients,medical records of patients, and so forth.

At step 908, the health care platform 108 may install the medicalapplication 106 on the user device 104, in an embodiment of the presentinvention.

Furthermore, at step 910, the health care platform 108 may providetraining and consulting to the medical personnel about the usage of themedical application 106, in an embodiment of the present invention. Thetraining may include, but not limited to, scanning a medical identifierof a patient, retrieving its medical records, updating the medicalrecords, contacting an emergency contact person of a patient, and soforth.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart of a method 1000 for updating medical data of apatient in a database, according to an embodiment of the presentinvention.

At step 1002, the health care platform 108 may update the patientprofile, in an embodiment of the present invention. The updating of theprofile, may include, updating contact information, updating medicaldata, and so forth.

At step 1004, the health care platform 108 requests PHI data from amedical provider, in order to update the patient profile, in anembodiment of the present invention. The medical provider may be, butnot limited to, a medical personnel of a Medical Emergency Facility(MEF), which provides medical services to the patient.

At step 1006, the health care platform 108 determines whether the PHIdata is received or not. In case, the health care platform 108determines that the PHI data is not received, then the method 1000returns the step 1004 and again requests for the PHI data from themedical provider. In case, the health care platform 108 determines thatthe PHI data is received, then the method 1000 proceeds towards a step1004.

At the step 1004, the health care platform 108 verifies and matches themedical data of the patient, in an embodiment of the present invention.The medical data may include the PII data and the PHI data. The healthcare platform 108 may match the PII data and the PHI data stored in theEHR database 111 with the medical data received from the patient and themedical personnel.

Further, at step 1010, the health care platform 108 determines whetherthe data is correct and matches with the medical data stored in the EHRdatabase 111. In case, the health care platform 108 determines that themedical data stored in the EHR database 111 matches with the receivedmedical data, then the method 1000 returns to the step 1004 and requestsfor the medical data from the medical personnel. In an embodiment of thepresent invention, the health care platform 108 may request for themedical data after a predefined time interval. The predefined timeinterval may be, every three days, weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, and soforth. In case, the health care platform 108 determines that the medicaldata is changed, then the method 1000 proceeds towards a step 1012.

At the step 1012, the health care platform 108 generates a new medicalidentifier for the patient, in an embodiment of the present invention.The new medical identifier may include, but not limited to, the updatedmedical data. Further, the health care platform 108 sends the generatedmedical identifier to the patient, in an embodiment of the presentinvention.

Techniques disclosed herein may be useful for identification purposes,such as for border control and/or to combat human trafficking. Forexample, an identifier (e.g., a QR code) may be used to identify whethera person is involved in human trafficking based on data in a governmentdatabase (e.g., Homeland Security). In this example, the medicalidentifier is used for identification purposes. The mechanism oroperation of the product/service may be similar to other examplesprovided herein, but the agency/operator and cases of usage/applicationsmay differ. The product/service may contain/utilize information relatedto a certain person and if this person (when he/she crosses the borders)under another name, the product can identify the personality. Moreover,this information can help to compare the data with data in a governmentdatabase (e.g., a Homeland Security database). In this way, a governmentagency may identify particular people (e.g., a person designated as amember of a high-risk group, or a person known or suspected of beinginvolved in human trafficking or other illicit activity).

FIG. 11 illustrates a computer system 1100 upon which the operation ofthe patient device 102, the user device 104, and the health careplatform 108 may be implemented. Although, the computer system 1100 isdepicted with respect to a particular device or equipment, it iscontemplated that other devices or equipment (e.g., network elements,servers, etc.) within FIG. 11 may deploy the illustrated hardware andcomponents of the system. The computer system 1100 is programmed (e.g.,via computer program code or instructions) to retrieve data from thehealth care platform 108 described herein and includes a communicationmechanism such as a bus 1102 for passing information between otherinternal and external components of the computer system 1100.Information (also called data) is represented as a physical expressionof a measurable phenomenon, typically electric voltages, but including,in other embodiments, such phenomena as magnetic, electromagnetic,pressure, chemical, biological, molecular, atomic, sub-atomic andquantum interactions. The computer system 1100, or a portion thereof,constitutes a means for performing one or more steps for communicationmedical data.

A bus 1102 includes one or more parallel conductors of information sothat information is transferred quickly among devices coupled to the bus1102. A processor 1104 for processing information are coupled with thebus 1102. The terms processor and controller can be usedinterchangeably.

The processor 1104 performs a set of operations on information asspecified by an end-user. The computer program code is a set ofinstructions or statements providing instructions for the operation ofthe processor 1104 and/or the computer system 1100 to perform specifiedfunctions. The code, for example, may be written in a computerprogramming language that is compiled into a native instruction set ofthe processor 1104. The code may also be written directly using thenative instruction set (e.g., machine language). The set of operationsinclude bringing information in from the bus 1102 and placinginformation on the bus 1102. The set of operations also typicallyinclude comparing two or more units of information, shifting positionsof units of information, and combining two or more units of information,such as by addition or multiplication or logical operations like OR,exclusive OR (XOR), and AND. Each operation of the set of operationsthat can be performed by the processor is represented to the processorby information called instructions, such as an operation code of one ormore digits. A sequence of operations to be executed by the processor1104, such as a sequence of operation codes, constitute processorinstructions, also called computer system instructions or, simply,computer instructions. The processor 1104 may be implemented asmechanical, electrical, magnetic, optical, chemical, or quantumcomponents, among others, alone or in combination.

The computer system 1100 also includes a memory 1106 coupled to the bus1102. The memory 1106, such as a Random Access Memory (RAM) or any otherdynamic storage device, stores information including processorinstructions for storing information and instructions to be executed bythe processor 1104. The dynamic memory 1106 allows information storedtherein to be changed by the computer system 1100. RAM allows a unit ofinformation stored at a location called a memory address to be storedand retrieved independently of information at neighboring addresses. Thememory 1106 is also used by the processor 1104 to store temporary valuesduring execution of processor instructions. The computer system 1100also includes a Read Only Memory (ROM) or any other static storagedevice coupled to the bus 1102 for storing static information, includinginstructions, that is not changed by the computer system 1100. Somememory is composed of volatile storage that loses the information storedthereon when power is lost. Also coupled to the bus 1102 is anon-volatile (persistent) database 1108, such as a magnetic disk, asolid state disk, optical disk or flash card, for storing information,including instructions, that persists even when the computer system 1100is turned off or otherwise loses power.

Information, including instructions for inspecting the user queries fromthe medical personnel to the health care platform 108, is provided tothe bus 1102 for use by the processor 1104 from an external input device1110, such as a keyboard containing alphanumeric keys operated by ahuman user, a microphone, an Infrared (IR) remote control, a joystick, agame pad, a stylus pen, a touch screen, or a sensor. The sensor detectsconditions in its vicinity and transforms those detections into physicalexpression compatible with the measurable phenomenon used to representinformation in the computer system 1100. Other external devices coupledto the bus 1102, used primarily for interacting with humans, include adisplay 1112, such as a Cathode Ray Tube (CRT), a Liquid Crystal Display(LCD), a Light Emitting Diode (LED) display, an organic LED (OLED)display, active matrix display, Electrophoretic Display (EPD), a plasmascreen, or a printer for presenting text or images, and a pointingdevice, such as a mouse, a trackball, cursor direction keys, or a motionsensor, for controlling a position of a small cursor image presented onthe display 1112 and issuing commands associated with graphical elementspresented on the display 1112, and one or more camera sensors 1114 forcapturing, scanning the medical identifiers and/or images, and causingto store one or more still and/or moving images (e.g., videos, movies,etc.). Further, the display 1112 may be a touch enabled display such ascapacitive or resistive screen. In some embodiments, for example, inembodiments in which the computer system 1100 performs all functionsautomatically without human input, one or more of the external inputdevice 1110, and the display 1112 may be omitted.

In the illustrated embodiment, special purpose hardware, such as an ASIC1116, is coupled to the bus 1102. The special purpose hardware isconfigured to perform operations not performed by the processor 1104quickly enough for special purposes. Examples of ASICs include graphicsaccelerator cards for generating images for the display 1112,cryptographic boards for encrypting and decrypting messages sent over anetwork, speech recognition, and interfaces to special external devices,such as robotic arms and medical scanning equipment that repeatedlyperform some complex sequence of operations that are more efficientlyimplemented in hardware.

The computer system 1100 also includes one or more instances of acommunication interface 1118 coupled to the bus 1102. The communicationinterface 1118 provides a one-way or two-way communication coupling to avariety of external devices that operate with their own processors, suchas printers, scanners and external disks. In general, the coupling iswith a network link 1120 that is connected to a local network 1122 towhich a variety of external devices with their own processors areconnected. For example, the communication interface 1118 may be aparallel port or a serial port or a Universal Serial Bus (USB) port on apersonal computer. In some embodiments, the communication interface 1118is an Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) card, a DigitalSubscriber Line (DSL) card, or a telephone modem that provides aninformation communication connection to a corresponding type of atelephone line. In some embodiments, the communication interface 1118 isa cable modem that converts signals on the bus 1102 into signals for acommunication connection over a coaxial cable or into optical signalsfor a communication connection over a fiber optic cable. As anotherexample, the communication interface 1118 may be a Local Area Network(LAN) card to provide a data communication connection to a compatibleLAN, such as Ethernet™ or an Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) network.In one embodiment, wireless links may also be implemented. For wirelesslinks, the communication interface 1118 sends or receives or both sendsand receives electrical, acoustic or electromagnetic signals, includinginfrared and optical signals that carry information streams, such asdigital data. For example, in wireless handheld devices, such as mobiletelephones like cell phones, the communication interface 1118 includes aradio band electromagnetic transmitter and receiver called a radiotransceiver. In certain embodiments, the communication interface 1118enables connection to the network 110 for inspecting the user queries.Further, the communication interface 1118 can include peripheralinterface devices, such as a thunderbolt interface, a Personal ComputerMemory Card International Association (PCMCIA) interface, etc. Althougha single communication interface 1118 is depicted, multiplecommunication interfaces can also be employed.

The term “computer-readable medium” as used herein refers to any mediumthat participates in providing information to the processor 1104,including instructions for execution. Such a medium may take many forms,including, but not limited to, computer-readable storage medium (e.g.,non-volatile media, volatile media), and transmission media.Non-transitory media, such as non-volatile media, include, for example,optical or magnetic disks, such as the database 1108. Volatile mediainclude, for example, the dynamic memory 1106. Transmission mediainclude, for example, twisted pair cables, coaxial cables, copper wire,fiber optic cables, and carrier waves that travel through space withoutwires or cables, such as acoustic waves, optical or electromagneticwaves, including radio, optical and infrared waves. Signals includeman-made transient variations in amplitude, frequency, phase,polarization or other physical properties transmitted through thetransmission media. Common forms of computer-readable media include, forexample, a floppy disk, a flexible disk, hard disk, magnetic tape, anyother magnetic medium, a USB flash drive, a Blu-ray disk, a CD-ROM,CDRW, DVD, any other optical medium, punch cards, paper tape, opticalmark sheets, any other physical medium with patterns of holes or otheroptically recognizable indicia, a RAM, a PROM, an EPROM, a FLASH-EPROM,an EEPROM, a flash memory, any other memory chip or cartridge, a carrierwave, or any other medium from which a computer can read. The termcomputer-readable storage medium is used herein to refer to anycomputer-readable medium except transmission media.

Logic encoded in one or more tangible media includes one or both ofprocessor instructions on a computer-readable storage media and specialpurpose hardware, such as ASIC 1116.

The network link 1120 typically provides information communication usingtransmission media through one or more networks to other devices thatuse or process the information. For example, the network link 1120 mayprovide a connection through the local network 1122 to a host computer1124 or to ISP equipment operated by an Internet Service Provider (ISP).

A server 1126, connected to the Internet, hosts a process that providesa service in response to information received over the Internet. Forexample, the server 1126 hosts a process that provides informationrepresenting video data for presentation at the display 1112. It iscontemplated that the components of the computer system 1100 can bedeployed in various configurations within other computer systems, e.g.,the host 1124 and the server 1126.

At least some embodiments of the invention are related to the use of thecomputer system 1100 for implementing some or all of the techniquesdescribed herein. According to one embodiment of the invention, thosetechniques are performed by the computer system 1100 in response to theprocessor 1104 executing one or more sequences of one or more processorinstructions contained in the memory 1106. Such instructions, alsocalled computer instructions, software and program code, may be readinto the memory 1106 from another computer-readable medium such as thedatabase 1108 or the network link 1120. Execution of the sequences ofinstructions contained in the memory 1106 causes the processor 1104 toperform one or more of the method steps described herein. In alternativeembodiments of the present invention, hardware, such as the ASIC 1116,may be used in place of or in combination with software to implement theinvention. Thus, embodiments of the present invention are not limited toany specific combination of hardware and software, unless otherwiseexplicitly stated herein.

Various forms of computer readable media may be involved in carrying oneor more sequence of instructions or data or both to the processor 1104for execution. For example, instructions and data may initially becarried on a magnetic disk of a remote computer such as the host 1124.The remote computer loads the instructions and data into its dynamicmemory and sends the instructions and data over a telephone line using amodem. A modem local to the computer system 1100 receives theinstructions and data on a telephone line and uses an infra-redtransmitter to convert the instructions and data to a signal on aninfra-red carrier wave serving as the network link 1120. An infrareddetector serving as the communication interface 1118 receives theinstructions and data carried in the infrared signal and placesinformation representing the instructions and data onto the bus 1102.The bus 1102 carries the information to the memory 1106 from which theprocessor 1104 retrieves and executes the instructions using some of thedata sent with the instructions. The instructions and data received inthe memory 1106 may optionally be stored on the database 1108, eitherbefore or after execution by the processor 1104.

Additional examples are presented below, by way of example, notlimitation.

In a first additional example, an apparatus includes a processor andmemory configured to:

-   -   output a first set of information associated with a code        obtained from a person, wherein the first set of information        includes identification information; and    -   output a second set of information associated with the code if        biometric data obtained from the person matches biometric data        associated with the code.

The processor and memory may be further configured to:

-   -   extract at least a portion of the first set of information from        the code; and    -   retrieve the second set of information from a remote storage        device over a communication network.

The processor and memory may be further configured to extract thebiometric data associated with the code from the code.

The processor and memory may be further configured to retrieve thebiometric data associated with the code from a remote storage deviceover a communication network.

The first set of information may include personal identificationinformation.

The second set of information may include personal medical information.

The second set of information may include an indication that the personis a member of an at-risk group.

The second set of information may include an indication that the personis suspected of involvement in illicit activity.

The second set of information may include:

-   -   an indication that the person is a member of an at-risk group,    -   an indication that the person is suspected of involvement in        illicit activity, or    -   an indication that the person is not member of an at-risk group        and is not suspected of involvement in illicit activity.

The processor and memory may be further configured to control a scannerto scan the code from a wristband, a dog tag, a driving license, a carwindshield, a financial transaction card, a personal identificationcard, jewelry, a magnetic device, a mobile phone, a helmet, a label,and/or a wearable article.

The processor and memory may be further configured to control a scannerto scan the code from a passport.

The processor and memory may be further configured to control a scannerto scan the code from an electronic display.

The processor and memory may be further configured to receive the codefrom an electronic device over a wireless communication channel.

The processor and memory may be further configured to receive the codefrom a near field communication (NFC) device.

The processor and memory may be further configured to determine that auser is an authorized user prior to outputting the second set ofinformation.

The processor and memory may be further configured to:

-   -   validate the person as associated with the code if the biometric        data obtained from the person matches the biometric data        associated with the code;    -   invalidate the person if the biometric data obtained from the        person does not match the biometric data associated with the        code; and    -   output the second set of information if the person is validated.

In a second example, an apparatus includes a processor and memoryconfigured to:

-   -   control a scanner to scan a code;    -   control a biometric sensor to capture biometric data of a        person;    -   compare the biometric data of the person with biometric data        associated with the code; and    -   output information associated with the code if the biometric        data of the person matches the biometric data associated with        the code.

The information may include an indication that the person is a member ofan at-risk group.

The information may include an indication that the person is suspectedof involvement in illicit activity.

The information may include an:

-   -   indication that the person is a member of an at-risk group,    -   an indication that the person is suspected of involvement in        illicit activity, or    -   an indication that the person is a not member of an at-risk        group and is not suspected of involvement in illicit activity.

One or more of the foregoing examples may be implemented as a methodand/or a non-transitory computer readable medium encoded with a computerprogram that includes instructions to cause a processor to behaveaccordingly.

Although the invention has been described with reference to exemplaryembodiments, it is not limited thereto. Those skilled in the art willappreciate that numerous changes and modifications may be made to thepreferred embodiments of the invention and that such changes andmodifications may be made without departing from the true spirit of theinvention. It is therefore intended that the appended claims beconstrued to cover all such equivalent variations as fall within thetrue spirit and scope of the invention.

The exemplary embodiments of this present invention have been describedin relation to communication devices. However, to avoid unnecessarilyobscuring the present invention, the preceding description omits anumber of known structures and devices. This omission is not to beconstrued as a limitation of the scope of the present invention.Specific details are set forth by use of the embodiments to provide anunderstanding of the present invention. It should however be appreciatedthat the present invention may be practiced in a variety of ways beyondthe specific embodiments set forth herein.

A number of variations and modifications of the present invention can beused. It would be possible to provide for some features of the presentinvention without providing others.

The present invention, in various embodiments, configurations, andaspects, includes components, methods, processes, systems and/orapparatus substantially as depicted and described herein, includingvarious embodiments, sub-combinations, and subsets thereof. Those ofskill in the art will understand how to make and use the presentinvention after understanding the present disclosure. The presentinvention, in various embodiments, configurations, and aspects, includesproviding devices and processes in the absence of items not depictedand/or described herein or in various embodiments, configurations, oraspects hereof, including in the absence of such items as may have beenused in previous devices or processes, e.g., for improving performance,achieving ease and/or reducing cost of implementation.

The foregoing discussion of the present invention has been presented forpurposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to limitthe present invention to the form or forms disclosed herein. In theforegoing Detailed Description, for example, various features of thepresent invention are grouped together in one or more embodiments,configurations, or aspects for the purpose of streamlining thedisclosure. The features of the embodiments, configurations, or aspectsmay be combined in alternate embodiments, configurations, or aspectsother than those discussed above. This method of disclosure is not to beinterpreted as reflecting an intention the present invention requiresmore features than are expressly recited in each claim. Rather, as thefollowing claims reflect, inventive aspects lie in less than allfeatures of a single foregoing disclosed embodiment, configuration, oraspect. Thus, the following claims are hereby incorporated into thisDetailed Description, with each claim standing on its own as a separateembodiment of the present invention.

Moreover, though the description of the present invention has includeddescription of one or more embodiments, configurations, or aspects andcertain variations and modifications, other variations, combinations,and modifications are within the scope of the present invention, e.g.,as may be within the skill and knowledge of those in the art, afterunderstanding the present disclosure. It is intended to obtain rightswhich include alternative embodiments, configurations, or aspects to theextent permitted, including alternate, interchangeable and/or equivalentstructures, functions, ranges or steps to those claimed, whether or notsuch alternate, interchangeable and/or equivalent structures, functions,ranges or steps are disclosed herein, and without intending to publiclydedicate any patentable subject matter.

What is claimed is:
 1. A machine-implemented method, comprising:outputting a first set of information associated with a code obtainedfrom a person, wherein the first set of information includesidentification information; and outputting a second set of informationassociated with the code if biometric data obtained from the personmatches biometric data associated with the code.
 2. The method of claim1, further comprising: extracting at least a portion of the first set ofinformation from the code; and retrieving the second set of informationfrom a remote storage device over a communication network.
 3. The methodof claim 1, further comprising: extracting the biometric data associatedwith the code from the code.
 4. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: retrieving the biometric data associated with the code froma remote storage device over a communication network.
 5. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the first set of information includes personalidentification information.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the secondset of information includes personal medical information.
 7. The methodof claim 1, wherein the second set of information includes an indicationthat the person is a member of an at-risk group.
 8. The method of claim1, wherein the second set of information includes an indication that theperson is suspected of involvement in illicit activity.
 9. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the second set of information includes an: indicationthat the person is a member of an at-risk group, an indication that theperson is suspected of involvement in illicit activity, or an indicationthat the person is not member of an at-risk group and is not suspectedof involvement in illicit activity.
 10. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: controlling a scanner to scan the code from a wristband, adog tag, a driving license, a car windshield, a financial transactioncard, a personal identification card, jewelry, a magnetic device, amobile phone, a helmet, a label, and/or a wearable article.
 11. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising: controlling a scanner to scan thecode from a passport.
 12. The method of claim 1, further comprising:controlling a scanner to scan the code from an electronic display. 13.The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving the code from anelectronic device over a wireless communication channel.
 14. The methodof claim 1, further comprising: receiving the code from a near fieldcommunication (NFC) device.
 15. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: determining that a user is an authorized user prior tooutputting the second set of information.
 16. The method of claim 1,further comprising: validating the person as associated with the code ifthe biometric data obtained from the person matches the biometric dataassociated with the code; invalidating the person if the biometric dataobtained from the person does not match the biometric data associatedwith the code; and outputting the second set of information if theperson is validated.
 17. A machine-implemented method, comprising:controlling a scanner to scan a code; controlling a biometric sensor tocapture biometric data of a person; comparing the biometric data of theperson with biometric data associated with the code; and outputtinginformation associated with the code if the biometric data of the personmatches the biometric data associated with the code.
 18. The method ofclaim 17, wherein the outputting includes outputting an indication thatthe person is a member of an at-risk group.
 19. The method of claim 17,wherein the outputting includes outputting an indication that the personis suspected of involvement in illicit activity.
 20. The method of claim17, wherein the outputting includes: outputting an indication that theperson is a member of an at-risk group, outputting an indication thatthe person is suspected of involvement in illicit activity, oroutputting an indication that the person is a not member of an at-riskgroup and is not suspected of involvement in illicit activity.